Melinda Gates praises Uttar Pradesh model; says 'UP is a model not only for India, but for the whole world'

New Delhi: Melinda Gates met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the latter’s official residence on Wednesday and discussed enhancing technical cooperation in the fields of health, nutrition and agriculture. After the meeting, Adityanath tweeted, “Had a wonderful meeting with co-chair and trustee of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at my official residence in Lucknow today. We had a fruitful discussion regarding better technical cooperation in the fields of health, nutrition, social security and agriculture in UP.”

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During the meeting, Gates lauded the work done by Uttar Pradesh government in recent years, underlining the Covid management and encephalitis control despite a dense population.

It was an honor to meet @myogiadityanath & @brajeshpathakup. UP has made huge strides in health and social development. We're committed to supporting the government's vision and priorities. @myogioffice @UPGovt @gatesfoundation @BMGFIndia pic.twitter.com/AzVhzwXiBa — Melinda French Gates (@melindagates) December 7, 2022

“Amid the challenges of Covid, the way the state leadership tackled the issue of dense population and various social challenges is highly commendable,” she said.

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“Uttar Pradesh is a model not only for India, but for the whole world,” she said.

Gates also congratulated women’s self-help groups (SHGs) for the success of the nutrition mission and praised the efforts being made to increase the income of farmers by promoting the formation of FPOs in the largest agricultural state of the country.

The Chief Minister said that he has closely seen the works of the BMGF, which has made a commendable contribution to the field of health and nutrition. Uttar Pradesh received logistics and technical support from the Foundation amid the challenges of Covid.

The Chief Minister said, “Uttar Pradesh has achieved satisfactory success in health and nutrition in recent years. About 95 per cent of the deaths of innocent children caused by a disease like encephalitis have been controlled. Besides, the Foundation has cooperated with us for effective control of communicable diseases like Chikungunya and Kala-azar. We have received good cooperation from global organisations such as UNICEF, WHO, BMGF and PATH in the field of public health, including in controlling various waterborne diseases such as encephalitis, as well as Covid management.”